Photos: ALBA to Make World Premiere at Palm Beach Dramaworks

Palm Beach Dramaworks ushers in the new season with a compelling new play, Alejandro Rodriguez's Alba. Set in working-class Miami, Alba takes its inspiration from two sources, Federico García Lorca's classic La Casa de Bernarda Alba and Rodriguez's own family.

The play follows a strong-willed Cuban matriarch trying to hold onto control of her house in the face of myriad encroaching forces, including newfangled technology, impatient debtors, and a young suitor with suspicious motives. Narrated by Alba's grandchild, the play seeks to make sense of the unspoken secrets that led to a tragic family event. That may sound dark, but Alba is also very funny.

The story is similar to Lorca's, but the details, the tone, and the singularity of each of the characters are very different from the source material. That's especially clear in the character of Alba herself, who in the original was not merely strong-willed but tyrannical. Still, it's not at all essential to be familiar with Lorca's work to fully appreciate the world Rodriguez has created. That was evident during the 2025 Perlberg Festival of New Plays, where PBD audiences were introduced to Alba. The reading was such a success that it led to this world premiere production.

Alba opens PBD's twenty-seventh season on October 9 and continues through October 25, with specially priced previews on October 7 and 8. Each preview performance begins at 7:30. KJ Sanchez, who directed the reading of Alba, directs the world premiere.

Rodriguez is a great admirer of Lorca's writing, and yet . . . 'I've never seen a single Lorca production that I've liked,' he said. 'When I saw his work done in the U.S., it was all mood, very heavy and dense. And I often found the characters mean-spirited. I just thought, 'How can I like this playwright but not the productions of his plays?' That's when I began thinking about a modern adaptation.

'Then, in the summer of 2020, my abuela passed in the hospital. Her death was partly related to Covid, and because of that we all had to keep our distance from her and we weren't allowed to be in the hospital with her when she passed. As I thought about her, I began to write down stories. And it occurred to me that she was kind of a Bernarda Alba type. Let me be clear: by that I mean she was a strong-willed woman who ran her house in a very specific way that others would probably evaluate and describe as tyrannical. But I loved my grandmother and she was very sweet with me. And that's where the adaptation was born. I thought I might be able to complicate the Lorca story in a way that's resonant with contemporary audiences.'

Alba features Maggie Bofill as the title character and includes Barbara Bonilla, Diana Garle, Dayana Morales, Monica Quintero, Gianna DiGregorio Rivera, Mary Lou Simo, and Matthew Ferro. All the actors, except Garle, are making their PBD debuts. Tanya Orellana (PBD debut) is the scenic designer, sponsored by Susan Schwartz; Brian O'Keefe is the Costume Designer, sponsored by Toni and Martin Sosnoff; Robert Aguilar (PBD debut) is the lighting designer; Roger Arnold is the sound designer; and Danielle DeLaFuente (PBD debut) is the scenic assistant.

Alejandro Rodriguez is a Miami-based Cuban American theatre artist and graduate of Juilliard. His dance-theatre work, Sorry, enjoyed two sold-out runs at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in New York. In My Body, a collaboration with the Canadian street dance company, Bboyizm, recently toured North and South America and won four Dora Awards, including Outstanding Production. Rodriguez is an O'Neill Center finalist, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center, and a three-time winner of the Miami-Dade County Individual Artists Grant. Residencies include Mesa Refuge, Artist in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE), Miami Light Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Makehouse, and the Center for Innovation in the Arts at Juilliard. Formerly, Rodriguez served as the associate artistic director for PlayMakers Repertory Company and as deputy executive director for Arts Ignite, a global nonprofit that delivers arts education to over 3000 children annually on four continents.

The 2026-27 season is sponsored by the Perlberg Family Fund.

About Palm Beach Dramaworks

Palm Beach Dramaworks is a professional, nonprofit theatre company founded in 2000 and located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach. Each season, the company produces five shows and offers a wide variety of programs for students at the theatre and in schools. Committed to fostering the future of theatre, PBD has become a hub for playwrights in Florida and around the country to nurture their work through the Perlberg Festival of New Plays. PBD is a member of Theatre Communications Group, Florida Professional Theatres Association, and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. In 2024, PBD was honored as Non-Profit of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches.

Event Details

Tickets for all performances are $97, except for opening night ($117) and previews ($77). Student tickets are available for $15 with a valid K-12 or university/college ID, and anyone under 40 pays $40 (no additional fees) with a photo ID. Tickets for educators and active military are half price with proper ID (other restrictions apply). Group rates are also available. Tickets can be purchased through the box office, in person or by phone (561.514.4042 ext 2), and online 24 hours a day at palmbeachdramaworks.org.

Evening performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30pm. Matinee performances are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2pm. Post-performance discussions follow Wednesday and Thursday matinees.

All performances, prices, and dates are subject to change.